Runaways and Royalty
by J.R.R. Not-Tolkien
Summary: When Jay, an ordinary teenager in the country of Grecia is sold to slavers and forced from his home into the next-door country of Ninjago, he thinks he's destined for a life of bondage and abuse by his djinn overlord. But as days turn into weeks, Jay begins to wonder whether his circumstances may change . . . but not in the way he expected. *BLOOD, PHYSICAL ABUSE* (on temp. hiatus)
1. Prologue: Ζήλια Φυλές μίσος

**Hi, guys! For those of you who read the latest chapter of . . . hold on, can't remember which story it was . . . BRB *dashes off***

 ***about a minute later* For those of you who read the latest chapter of _Kingdom of Kevar: Zanestasio: Son of Ice_ , you'll know that I said I'd be getting up a story called _Runaways and Royalty_. . . well, here it is!**

 **After a bit of debating, I decided just to make a prologue instead of including the longer first chapter I had in mind, since it would be cramming too much into the first chapter the other way. So I hope I got ya interested with this prologue.**

 **Some preliminary stuff:**

 **I drew my inspiration for this story from these sources: the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis (I don't remember the exact reference, but it's toward the end of the book); _Foxe's Book of Martyrs_ , and in particular, the accounts of the early Roman Christians; and an old story I never actually tried to post called _Royalty_. I'm not planning to post _Royalty_ , for reasons of my own (mainly because I can't find it).**

 **This story will contain Christian themes, so if you like that sort of thing, feel free to read. Some scenes will be rather intense (for me, anyway), and will contain blood.**

 **And one thing that's been bothering me for a while . . . is anyone tired of me writing mainly about Jay? If you are, I don't know if you should read this. I'm going to be writing stories about the other Ninja, but the best one for me to write about is Jay, so that'll be my primary focus.**

 **That's enough for now, I'll finish this author's note at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

 **Prologue** : Ζήλια Φυλές μίσος

It was a peaceful day in the small village of Skuran, on the border where the quiet country of Grecia, where Skuran was located, and their neighboring country, Ninjago, met.

A young man was playing a flute underneath a sycamore on a small grassy hill near the village courtyard, his notes clear and cheerful as bird-song. He was lean and well-muscled, with a slender waist and shoulders. His lightly tanned face was framed by a tousled mess of chestnut hair, his soft rounded cheeks making his face look very youthful and childlike. He was dressed in a light blue short-sleeved tunic and a leather belt, with a simple copper circlet in his hair and sandals on his feet.

Several girls were watching the young man and emitting dreamy sighs. "Jarius' the handsomest youth in the village," one said.

"If only he paid more attention to us," another said mournfully.

A third added, "Jay's sure to take more of an interest to us, now that he's seventeen and old enough to get married!"

"Wonder who his lucky bride will be," a fourth girl pondered. "I hope it'll be me."

"Keep dreaming, Tracy," the first girl sneered. "Jay would never even think of marrying someone like you."

"Shh!" a fifth squealed. "He's looking at us!"

Jarius, or Jay, as he was called, who had been listening in on their conversation with irritation, pulled the flute away from his lips and called, "Hate to sound rude, girls, but I'm trying to practice, and that kinda conversation does nothing for the brain!"

They burst into giggles, blushing and piping their agreement in squeals of delight. With a huffy sigh, Jay went back to his flute playing, his cheerful mood lessening as the girls continued to gaze at him rapturously.

He wasn't watched by only the girls. Several jealous young men were shooting dagger glares at Jay, whose blue eyes kept darting to simultaneously give the girls annoyed looks and glance nervously at the other older youths. "I wish I could teach that pretty boy a lesson," one growled. "By Zeus, he's the Narcissus of Skuran."

"Don't say that!" a second said frantically. "We're not allowed to swear by the false gods of our past, now that we're believers in the Almighty!"

"Why can't I?" the first youth snapped. "This God and Jesus nonsense is puffed-up baloney. I for one will swear by the gods of our ancestors, whether they're real or not!" He glowered at Jay, who avoided his gaze as he continued to play his flute. "That little Ganymede," he muttered.

"First you call him Narcissus, then you call him Ganymede, can't you come up with an analogy and stick with it, Ziliaris?" a third young man snapped.

"Either one works," Ziliaris shrugged. "They're both feather-headed idiots whom either the mortals or the gods fall in love with! He's barely even a man!"

"He's only a year younger than you," the timid youth piped up. "And I wouldn't go so far as to call him a Narcissus; he doesn't love himself."

"But he's stolen the heart of every eligible maiden in Skuran, Atolmos!" Ziliaris retorted. "All of them are pining for this scrawny seventeen-year-old who barely even notices them when they could be in the arms of older youths who can give them more than unintentional glances!"

"I'll bet the guy doesn't even know how to flirt," a fourth youth sneered.

"He doesn't want to!" Atolmos said defensively. His shy exterior fell away as he spoke. "Unlike some people around here, he knows better than to chase after girls who could be swooning over the next handsome guy who comes sauntering by!"

"When did _you_ take such an interest in Jay's thoughts, Atolmos?" Ziliaris mocked. "Don't tell me _you're_ falling for him!"

"That would be both wrong and ridiculous," Atolmos responded. "I'm just saying that he's not as bad as you're making him out to be. I think he's actually pretty nice. He talks a lot, and he's kinda vain about his appearance, but he's nice about it. He doesn't brag like some people around here." He looked pointedly at Ziliaris.

Ziliaris snorted. "Of course he doesn't," he sneered. "He's too much of a pious goody-two-sandals to stoop down to the ways of us lesser mortals."

The other youths, excluding Atolmos, nodded their agreement. "I say we find a way to get rid of him," one suggested. "With that Perfect Perseus out of the way, the girls will be begging like dogs at our feet for us to wed them."

"That's an excellent idea," Ziliaris purred. "And I know exactly what to do. It's time for me to return a favor. . ."

* * *

 **In case you're wondering what the heck some of the words mean, I'll be using words in Greek (which I don't know at all) and Latin (which I know a bit of), as title chapters, and phonetic pronunciations of Greek words for some of the characters' names. Here is the translations: (these are all Greek words or pronunciations)**

Prólogos: Ζήλια Φυλές μίσος: Prologue: Jealousy Breeds Hatred

Ziliaris: jealous

Atolmos: timid

 **Okay, I've got a problem. My avatar creator I normally use is no help when I'm trying to create a story set in Greek and Roman-based countries, and I can't put up my own fanart since I'm rather limited in my display sites. So . . . anyone up for the challenge? J** **ust PM me if you're interested!**

 **I suppose that's it. Valere! (that's Latin for "goodbye to a buncha people" XD)**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	2. Chapter Ι: Χαμένος

**Salvete, amici! Whoops, sorry, that's Latin for "Hi, friends!"**

 **Thank you guys so much for your support on the prologue! :D Special shout-out to The Mayor of Ninjago City, Ninja Pony, JayaForever421, 1234, SwimmerNinja13, and ponygirl009 for your reviews on: Prologue: Jealousy Breeds Hatred (I cannot remember the Greek name for the life of me right now XD)**

 **MNC: Yep, you got it right! :D Aw, did I really do that? Thank you so much!**

 **JayaForever421: Don't worry, there'll be Jaya ;D I LOVE JAYA!**

 **I apologize if this is short, but once again, I had chapter dividing problems XD But here's some good news: I should have Chapter II up tonight! Oh, and my birthday's tomorrow, so I might update something then too! (Not saying how old I am though XD)**

 **I hope you enjoy, and I'll put my translations right here (since there's only one thing that needs translating):**

Χαμένος: **Lost**

 **Welp, hope you like, and I'm outta here! :D**

* * *

 **Chapter Ι: Χαμένος**

About a few weeks later, Jay was once again sitting under that wise old sycamore tree perched atop the grassy knoll at the edge of the village courtyard, chirping on his flute as the dusky sun began to sink down below the horizon. Brilliant hues of marigold, scarlet, and rose lit up the countryside, foamy clouds streaking the waves of the pale cornflower sky.

This peaceful scene was interrupted by a distressed moan from nearby. Frowning curiously, Jay paused his playing to see where the sound came from.

The source was a groaning Ziliaris, who was slumped up against a birch tree with his hands on his forehead in a sign of despair. Holding his flute in one hand, Jay approached the older youth with a concerned look on his face. "You okay, Ziliaris?"

Ziliaris sniffled as he tried to blink back tears. "I lost the necklace I was going to give Sapphira as an engagement offering!" he moaned pitifully. "I've looked all over town and I can't find it!"

Although Jay wanted to help, he wasn't exactly sure how. "Could I help you double-check around town?" he asked. "It's not easy to lose something in a village like ours, but there _are_ nooks and crannies you can only find once."

"Are you sure?" Ziliaris asked. "It's getting late, and your parents are gonna wonder where you are."

"Mom and Dad know I like to wander around at dusk, and if we can't find it tonight, we can always try again in the morning," Jay assured him. "And I _want_ to help you!"

The older youth hesitated, then weakly returned Jay's friendly smile. "Thanks," he said gratefully. "This really means a lot. C'mon, we can retrace my steps. . ."

* * *

"I don't know about this, Ziliaris," Jay said worriedly, looking around at the dark buildings and shivering as a cold night breeze blew past him, ruffling his hair and whipping his tunic skirt about his thighs. There were times he wished long-sleeved tunics were popular. . .

He had followed Ziliaris all over town, retracing his steps with the necklace, searching every hiding place he knew of, and discovering a few he hadn't seen before. The older youth was seeming less desperate to find the necklace, and more keen on mocking Jay. "Aw, what's the matter?" he taunted, giving a hard tug on the younger boy's tousled chestnut bangs, making Jay yelp in pain. "Little Jamie's too far away from Mummy and Daddy?"

Jay violently shook his head, blinking back the tears induced by the unnecessary pull on his hair. "I'm not scared!" he protested, trying to pry his wrist free of Ziliaris's grip, as the older youth was beginning to forcibly drag him past the empty buildings marking the treacherous _Apagorevméno_ District. "It's just getting really dark, my parents _are_ gonna start worrying about where I am, this is a bad part of town - okay, okay, I'm a little scared, but all I'm saying is that we can keep looking tomorrow! To tell the truth, you don't really seem anxious-"

"Oh, I'm anxious," Ziliaris sneered. "Anxious to learn how a pretty boy like you can attract so much attention from all the best possible brides in town, hm? Answer me that, and I just might listen to your 'wise advice'."

"Huh?" Jay was thrown off-guard by the response. "How - I can't answer that!"

"Why not?" Ziliaris jeered. "Afraid we might steal your crowd of girls like I'll steal the secret to your success?"

"Steal my - what on earth are you talking about? I don't have any secret!"

"Don't play dumb with me, Jarius, you know what I'm talking about."

Jay's fear turned more into annoyance. If Ziliaris was going to talk to him like that, he would have to expect the same thing right back. "Oh, _that's_ what you're talking about," he replied nonchalantly. "I wondered who those girls belonged to. Funny, I thought they had just lost their path trying to find their way back to _your_ flock, Ziliaris."

"You'll pay for that insult, you overgrown catspawn," the older youth snarled.

"I think you mean 'kitten'?" Jay corrected him with mock politeness. "Catspawn is a really poor choice of words, especially as an insult. Piece of advice: if you want to attract girls, speak nicely to them. No crude insults like 'catspawn'-" he made air quotes around the word "-or flattering a gal to get at her prettier friend."

That last statement was a direct verbal blow, and Ziliaris felt it. _I should have known better than to try to engage him in a verbal battle_ , he thought, mentally cursing his stupidity. To stall, he retorted, "Your debt's getting deeper with all those sassy remarks. And I know you're lying. That's not your secret, otherwise you'd address the girls who follow you around sweet as sugar."

Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere with the direct approach, Ziliaris decided to use a different tack. After several moments' silence, he said, suddenly apologetic, "Look, I'm sorry for acting all threatening and rude, but all I'm trying to do is find a way to get them to leave you alone."

"Huh?" Jay blinked, completely nonplussed. "But I thought you said -"

"I know what I said," Ziliaris cut him off, "but that's in the past now. I don't _really_ care that they're following you around; I _do_ care that you don't like it, and since you helped me look for the necklace, I can help you get them to stop hovering around you."

Jay hesitated. He wasn't completely certain that Ziliaris was telling him the truth, since this was a quick change of tune from the older teenager's previous statements. But he sounded genuinely repentant, and if there _was_ a way to get the girls from following him around, he would take it. "You mean it?"

He betrayed his slight hopefulness, and Ziliaris smiled in satisfaction. "Sure I mean it," he replied. "All you've gotta do is follow me, and I'll lead you right to the answer you need! And don't worry, we'll be back at your parents' before midnight."

Jay sighed with relief, not just because of Ziliaris' reassurance, but because he had let go of his wrist, which Jay now fervently massaged to restore blood flow back into his hand.

By the time he could feel with his hand again, Ziliaris was already far ahead of him. "Wait for me!" he yelped, running to catch up as the older boy turned a corner and disappeared down a dark street.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of frantic dashing, Jay had to stop. Ziliaris was nowhere to be seen, and he couldn't hear his footsteps either going away from or coming back towards him. The only light in the inky black sky was that of the full moon, and it only intensified the emptiness of the sinister black shadows cast by the old rundown buildings which were now used as thieves' dens and black market slave dealerships.

Jay was frightened and disoriented. His voice went up an octave as he called, "Ziliaris! Ziliaris, where are you?" All he received in reply was his own voice echoing in the eerie silence of the night. He knew he was too far away for anyone in the main part of the town to hear him, and Ziliaris, wherever he was, apparently couldn't hear him either.

What was he supposed to do now? He was hopelessly lost in the worst section of Skuran, and all he could hear was the howling shrieks of cold wind whipping past him, added with the occasional eerie whoops of a pack of jackals. To top everything else off, he realized he had lost his treasured flute in his scramble to catch up to Ziliaris.

Shivering in the cold, Jay collapsed into a sitting position leaning up against a building, shoulders heaving with suppressed sobs. He tried to keep himself from crying, but the tears came spilling from his blue eyes. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed, too afraid and confused to do anything else.

* * *

"My, my, you're out late, aren't you?"


	3. Chapter II: Δύο φορές Προδομένος

**Hi guys! Woo, that was fast, wasn't it? But don't get too comfortable with this quick updatin' schedule, it'll only happen once in a blue moon XD**

 **Thank you guys so much for your support on Chapter I! Fifteen reviews on this story already?! WOW! That's really exciting for me! :D Special shout-out to The Mayor of Ninjago City, 1234, MasterOfCupcakes (for reviewing on both the Prologue and Chapter I :D), LiaLia15, JayFan67, JayandNya4ver (for your reviews on both the Prologue and Chapter I ;D), SwimmerNinja13, and JayaForever412 for your comments! I see a lot of people are sympathetic for Jay here! I guess I _did_ leave you on a melancholy cliffhanger, didn't I? Well, hopefully this should help, but I get the feeling I may freak people out _again_! XD**

 **MasterOfCupcakes: I am _obsessed_ with Greek mythology (Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus freak over here! *waves* XD), and Ancient Greece itself is fascinating to me. Besides, I've drawn sketches of Jay in Greek-style outfits, and he looks so darn HOT! XD**

 **LiaLia15: YAY ANOTHER JAYA FAN! I know I shouldn't be freaking out like that cuz a whole lot'a people like Jaya, but still . . . YAY!**

 **JayandNya4ver: Gimme some high-five, fellow Jay fan! XD I'm glad you like the setting! :D**

 **And you'll find out about what on earth is going on to Jay in this chapter, so . . . enjoy! :D Hope you like! (Oh, and yeah, it's my birthday today. Don't feel very different from how old I was yesterday, but hey, it'll catch up to me XD)**

 **Oh, and if there was an unfamiliar word in the previous chapter, I forgot to translate "** Apagorevméno", **which means "forbidden". I'll put the chapter translation at the end! :D**

* * *

 **Chapter IΙ: Δύο φορές Προδομένος**

Jay glanced up to see the speaker, but no one was there. Scrubbing at his eyes, he unsteadily got to his feet. "Who's there?" he called.

"Oh, just someone worried about a poor scared young teenager who's lost in the dead of night," the voice responded. It was cool, sophisticated, and strangely soothing to the youth's nerves. "You want to get back to your parents, don't you?"

Jay nodded silently, blinking back fresh tears. "Well, I can lead you back to the town courtyard," the voice told him confidentially, yet gently at the same time.

At the minute, all Jay could think about was how much he wanted to get out of here and back to the safety of his home, and he was prepared to trust anyone if they knew the way back, even after his incident with Ziliaris. "Can you take me there?" he asked hopefully, rubbing the tears from his eyes with one fist.

He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Of course I can, dear boy," the voice promised. "Just follow the sound of my voice."

Jay willingly followed the sibilant tones of the invisible speaker, who encouraged him every couple minutes that: "You're getting closer."

But after ten more minutes, Jay's want for sleep was becoming to get the better of him. He was longing for his warm soft bed and to see his parents' smiling faces. "Am I almost there?" he asked, yawning and beginning to stumble in his drowsiness.

"We're nearly there," the voice assured him. "You can see the lights of the courtyard up ahead! Look!"

Jay did look, and sure enough. he could see flickering yellow orbs of light straight in front of him about ten yards away. Spurred on by the thought he was nearly home, he tried to quicken his pace, but he tripped over his own feet, stumbling forward and almost falling face-down into the dirt.

"Take my hand!"

Jay reached up gratefully and caught the hand offered to him. But as he stood and looked up into the face of his aid, he cried out in terror and jerked his hand away.

A pair of swirling red eyes and white fangs bared in a malicious grin looked back at him. The being standing before him had a cobra-like head, with its hood and face covered in blue scales with swirling yellow designs. His snake body was also blanketed in blue, white, and yellow scales, his long tail curved upward, poised to rattle.

More snake humanoids appeared out of the shadows, several bearing torches, which had cast the light that Jay had mistaken for town lamps. All the snakes had varied colors and faces, the majority of which had human legs and feet, while three of them, besides the one with the hypnotically patterned scales, had long tails.

Jay knew who they were: Serpentine, the race of snake people that were scattered about Ninjago and Grecia. They made a living out of selling slaves to the Ninjagonians and sometimes the Grecians.

The Serpentine grinned wickedly at him, fangs bared; some smirks were dripping with sickly green venom. The teenager slowly backed away, being careful to avoid looking at the snakes with red swirling eyes. He had learned enough from his lessons with the Skuran schoolmaster to recognize them as Hypnobrai, and that if you met their stare while they rattled their tails, you would be under their hypnotic control.

Before he could find an interval to turn tail and run, a scaly arm wrapped around his neck, and he felt the cold blade of a dagger pressed lightly to the side of his head. "Oh, I'm afraid you took a wrong turn, my boy," a voice hissed in his ear.

Jay's eyes widened in terrified shock. It was the voice that had supposedly agreed to lead him to his parents. "You - you -"

"Tricked you?" the speaker replied. "Oh, yes, dirty little deception of mine, but I had to do it, otherwise you wouldn't have walked right into our camp." In the torchlight, Jay could see the long purple tail winding up his legs and coiling about his waist. He twisted desperately to try to free himself, but the tail only tightened around him, pinning his hands to his sides.

"Who are you?" he stammered. "What do you want with me?"

The owner of the dagger stroked Jay's hair with the flat of his blade as he calmly responded. "Pythor P. Chumsworth at your service, young man, though I really shouldn't say that since, technically speaking, _you_ are at _my_ service. Who may I have the honor of addressing?"

"Jay," Jay stuttered, eyes darting nervously between the dagger moving down the side of his head in an easy petting motion to the watching and grinning Serpentine.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Pythor purred, "and to answer your second inquiry, I'm reaping the benefits of a favor that just so happens to involve yourself."

"What exactly do you mean by 'benefits'?" Jay asked uneasily, flinching as Pythor's dagger flicked lightly off his cheek, drawing a pinprick of bright red blood. "And how do you know I'm the guy you're looking for, anyway?"

"A local . . . contact, shall we say, gave me your exact description," the Serpentine replied. "'About seventeen years of age, tousled reddish-brown hair, blue eyes, lean figure, often carries a flute about his person, answers to either Jay or Jarius, normally has a cheerful disposition but also easily frightened and somewhat naive . . .' I could go on, but that would waste valuable time. Speaking of which, what time is it, anyhow?"

"About eleven-thirty, boss," one of the torch bearers piped up.

"Well we've got about a half-hour," Pythor noted. "Enough time to make our _guest_ comfortable in his new quarters before setting out."

Jay had been trying not to panic, but he could feel his endurance beginning to melt away. "Who says I'm coming with you?" he asked, attempting to cover up his fear with some weak false bravado.

"Oh, let's see." Pythor held his dagger right under Jay's chin. "I believe my Fang Blade says so, and you'll do well to listen to him. He can get very . . . persuasive."

The youth squirmed at the touch of the dagger's cold blade on his skin, struggling more helplessly against Pythor's grip. His obvious terror couldn't be hidden anymore. " _Let go of me!_ " His voice cracked again, sounding high and squeaky.

The Serpentine burst into hissing laughter at the frightened Jay's sudden soprano-pitched voice, and with a roll of his eyes, Pythor abruptly complied to his terrified request. Jay fell flat on his face, the purple tail that had been holding him pressed to his captor no longer coiled around his waist.

Before he could get to his feet and run away, he was tackled and pinned down by several burly black-and-orange-scaled Serpentine: Constrictai. Two firmly held his arms and legs still while two more tightly bound his hands behind his back and his ankles together with sturdy black rope. Then he was hauled roughly to his feet, one snake holding him up by his tunic collar so a second one could secure his arms to his sides with more rope.

Jay had tried to resist as they tied him up, but it was feeble, for his desire to sleep had almost completely conquered him. "You won't get away with this," he said weakly, tiredly glaring at the long-necked, magenta-eyed, purple-and-black-scaled Anacondrai standing before him.

"Most unfortunately for you, dear Jay," Pythor sneered, sheathing his dagger, "I already have."

Jay was about to respond when his head slumped forward and his eyes fell shut in weary slumber.

Pythor took his sleeping captive in his arms bridal style. "Would you look at that?" he said, smirking. "We don't even have to gag him, poor thing. He won't wake up until it's too late. We'll be long gone from this place, and our dealing with that upstart Ziliaris will be over. He's returned his favor, and the only reason for our coming back is to collect more merchandise."

Jay frowned nervously when Pythor mentioned Ziliaris, and he whimpered fearfully in his sleep. "There, there," the Anacondrai soothed, cradling the teenager's head in one black-scaled hand. "You won't be seeing _him_ again. In fact, we're taking you to a new home. A new home . . . with a new master."

* * *

 **Δύο φορές Προδομένος: Twice Betrayed**

 **Well? What are you still hanging around here for? XD WHADDYA THINK?! XD XD XD**


	4. Chapter III: τύχη Αποφάσισε

**YAY! FINALLY HAVE CHAPTER III FINISHED! WOO HOO!**

 **Okay, can't really respond to reviews right now, but thank you guys sooooo much for your support on Chapter II! Shout-out to SwimmerNinja13, JAYA AND PERCY, JayFan67, LiaLia15, JayaForever421, ponygirl009, MasterofCupcakes, The Mayor of Ninjago City, 1234, and KittyKat for your reviews on Chapter II! :D It really means a lot!**

 **One weird thing I just realized: I love writing WishfulThinkingShipping. What is that? One-sided Delara x Jay. I don't know why, but I love writing that! XD You'll see why I brought that up eventually . . . ;) But please don't guess; I don't want to spoil it for other people.**

 **Gotta run, but here's the chapter name translation:** Fate Decided **. Welp, gotta go! Valere, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter III: τύχη Αποφάσισε**

Ed paced restlessly around the room. "It's not like Jay to be out this late," he voiced his thoughts aloud.

His wife, Edna, nodded in worried agreement. "It's nearly midnight; he should have been home hours ago!" She glanced out the window, and at the sight of someone approaching the house, narrowed her eyes at the figure. "Ed, come quick!"

As Ed joined her at the window, her look of relief changed into one of confusion as the figure came closer. "It's not Jay," she said, frowning. "It's Ziliaris."

"Isn't his house in the other direction?" Ed asked, sharing a puzzled glance with his wife.

Regardless where his house was, Ziliaris stumbled up to the window where the couple was standing. "Ed, Edna, I'm so sorry!" he gasped, falling to his knees in front of them. "It's my fault; I asked him to!"

"Slow down, sonny!" Ed exclaimed, more baffled than before. "You'd better come inside and tell us what's going on."

"No, I'm all right," Ziliaris insisted, refusing the offer to come into the house.

"Do you know where Jay is?" Edna asked, anxiously wringing her hands.

After taking several deep breaths, Ziliaris began, "I asked him to help me look for something around town, and then we went into the _Apagorevméno_ District - that was _completely_ my fault, he didn't want to, honest! And then a pack of wild jackals came tearing into the District, howling like banshees! I tried to pull Jay out of the way, but . . ." He held out a slightly battered cherrywood flute. "He was carried off by the jackals. This was all I could get before they ran off into the woods with him."

Edna took the flute with trembling hands, eyes welling up with tears. Ed gently put an arm around his wife. "Thank you for telling us, Ziliaris," he said quietly. "You should be getting home now."

After one final apology, Ziliaris took off.

"It's okay, Edna," her husband said softly. "Jay's in God's hands now. He'll be protected."

 **~*the next day: about mid-afternoon*~**

"Wakey wakey, Sleepin' Beauty!"

Jay yelped as he was rudely awakened by a bucket of cold water right in his face. His muscles were sore and aching, and he couldn't feel his hands or feet. His arms, wrists, and ankles chafed painfully against the coarse ropes restraining them.

The snakes who had doused him burst into raspy laughter as Jay gasped and spluttered, trying to shake water out of his hair. "Nice to see you up and about, pretty boy," one, a Hypnobrai, sneered. "Though that'sa little inaccurate seeing as yer tied up an' all."

"What happened?" Jay coughed, still slightly groggy, despite his wake-up call.

"Ya fell asleep, all tuckered out," a green-and-red-scaled Venomari explained, baring his fangs in a derisive grin. "We brought ya back here, made ya nice an' comfy, and once dawn cracked, we were off! On'y reason we stopped was t'wake ya up so you can stop lazin' about and get movin'."

"How could I have been 'lazing about' if I was asleep?" Jay protested.

They ignored him. "Up on yer feet," a Constrictai ordered. Jay tried to obey, but only succeeded in flopping his partially limp body helplessly around like a fish out of water. The watching Serpentine sniggered at their captive's distress, and the teenager felt his face burning with embarrassment and humiliation.

Eventually, one of them, a red-and-white-scaled Fangpyre, caught him by the waist and forced him to his feet. Then he slashed through the ropes binding Jay's ankles and arms with his dagger. "Are we s'posed t'untie his wrists, too?" the Hypnobrai piped up.

"So long as we keeps an eye on 'im, I don't see why not," the Venomari shrugged. He turned his four yellow eyes toward Jay, narrowing his already slits of pupils at him. "Ya don't move a muskle, ya hear, or I'll do a li'l trick wit' yer neck and me blade."

Jay bobbed his head up and down in frightened affirmation. "I swear by the God I serve I won't run!"

"An' how good is th' word of this god ya swear by?" the Venomari asked warily.

"As good as that of the most honest man in the world and better!" Jay stammered.

Apparently satisfied, the Venomari gestured for the Fangpyre to undo the ropes holding Jay's hands behind his back. "Hold on to them ropes, Fang-Suei," he said, "you'll need 'em when it's time t'bring 'im to Pythor."

"'Oo died an' made yew Gen'ral alla sudden, Spitta?" the Constrictai demanded.

"No one, but Gen'ral Acidicus tol' me t'pick a coupl'a snakes to wake up Fox-Fur over there," Spitta responded, thumbing at Jay, who was now fervently massaging his arms and wrists, trying to restore blood flow. "I don' recall Gen'ral Plumpy askin' _ya_ to, Snike."

He and the other snakes burst out laughing as Snike shrieked, "Yew li'l venom sh-pitter! Yew dare call Gen'ral Skalidor _Plumpy_?!"

"Looky who's callin' who _little_ ," the Hypnobrai jeered. "Yer shorter than Spitta, Snike, an' that's somethin' fer a Constrictai!"

That must have been an inside joke on the part of the Serpentine, for Spitta, Fang-Suei, and the Hypnobrai hissed in more raucous laughter at the fury of the Constrictai Snike. "Yew'll pay fer that, Rattla!"

Jay had just barely managed to massage his ankles back to health when Spitta turned on him. "You've 'ad enough time to thaw yer limbs, Foxie! Gimme those ropes, Fang-Suei!"

Once his hands were once again tied behind his back, Jay was roughly escorted to a makeshift tent where Pythor and the four other tailed Serpentine were in apparently deep discussion.

"You want to know what _I_ think, Skalidor?" the green Venomari spat contemptuously. "I think you're getting a little big for your scales, and _that's_ saying something!"

"Say that to my face, Acidicus!" the admittedly heavy-set black-and-orange Constrictai snarled. "No, don't, you'll get your filthy venom in my eyes!"

Snike smirked at Spitta, who merely muttered, "Not a word."

Pythor noticed the four Serpentine with their captive standing in the doorway of the tent, Fang-Suei and Rattla pointing their spears at Jay's back and Spitta and Snike holding their daggers close to his throat. "Ah, I see our guest has awakened!" he said with a satirical smile. "You snakes are free to go." He waved his hand dismissively to the four Serpentine.

They went, off, Snike and Spitta still heatedly bickering while Fang-Suei and Rattla placed bets with each other on whether or not the two of them would fight, and if so, who would win.

The Anacondrai guided Jay to the four other Serpentine, who eyed him with distaste. "Have I quite properly introduced you yet?" Pythor directed his question to Jay. "These fine snakes are General Skales of the Hypnobrai, General Fangtom of the Fangpyre, General Acidicus of the Venomari, and General Skalidor of the Constrictai."

The youth didn't say anything. His only response to this information was a skittish fidget at Pythor's cold-scaled touch. The red-and-white scaled Fangpyre, who alarmingly had two heads, appeared to be slightly amused at his silence. "What's the matter?" one head inquired. "Cat got your tongue?" The other added, yellow eyes narrowing as they followed Jay's gaze, "It's not polite to stare."

Jay shook his head and barely squeaked out a "sorry." But he could not tear his eyes away from the two pairs of ivory fangs which Fangtom's twin heads alternatively licked with their forked tongues. Their bites, which carried mutating effects, were only a foot away from sinking into his face, and he did not want to get on the bad side of those reptilian teeth.

The one clear part of his brain, that one section not clouded by fear, wondered, _How do they eat if everything they bite turns into a snake?_

"So, how are you enjoying your new accommodations, dear boy?" Pythor queried.

"What accommodations?" Jay asked, puzzled. "As far as I could tell I was probably sleeping on the ground for the night."

"You're a clever lad, aren't ya?" Skalidor sneered. "Takes a wit to figure out somethin' like that so fast."

"Oh, be quiet," the blue-white-and-yellow-patterned Skales snapped irritably, pressing one white-scaled hand to his forehead. "It's bad enough hearing you and Acidicus quarreling all the time, I shouldn't have to hear your poor attempt at mocking the merchandise." Acidicus's smirk of triumph immediately faded into a sulky scowl.

"Mercha-what?" The word was slightly difficult on Jay's tongue.

" _Merchandise_ ," one of Fangtom's heads replied. "Pythor prefers it over more commonplace terms such as _goods_ or _products_."

"Geez, it's already hard enough trying to understand you with all that hissing, you have to throw in hard-to-pronounce words, too?" Jay let his thoughts slip out of his mouth without thinking, and his face reddened with a mixture of embarrassment and fear at the looks on the Serpentine Generals' faces.

Pythor chuckled, allegedly amused by his statement. "You do have a witty tongue when you want to, don't you, Jay? Although I sincerely hope you didn't really mean that little remark, otherwise. . ."

Jay flinched as he felt Pythor once again stroking his hair with his cold dagger flat. "No," he lied uneasily. "I didn't mean it."

"Good lad," the Anacondrai purred, his blade never once lifting away from Jay's head. "Now, we Serpentine are nocturnal creatures, resting during the day and active at night. Seeing as you're to be our traveling companion for the next week, I thought I ought to alert you to this fact, as well as tell you we will be giving you some aid in, ahem, temporarily adjusting to our sleep patterns."

"So you had your goons wake me up in the middle of the afternoon to tell me that I have to sleep during the day?" Jay asked, once again speaking impulsively. "Pretty ironic, if you ask me."

Pythor didn't reply immediately. Instead, he accepted something from Skales. "Do you see this?"

Jay frowned at the strange object in Anacondrai's hand. It appeared to be a vial with a hollowed-out needle inserted in its narrow end, and a slightly loose piece of cork sticking out from its wide end. The vial was almost completely full with some sort of liquid: clear, with a slight violet tint. "What is it?"

" _This_ is a little contraption I whipped up the other night," Pythor answered, admiring the peculiar object. "I call it a syringe. What do you think it does?"

"Whatever it does, I don't think I'll like it," Jay said, eyeing the needle with more than anxiety.

"Sadly, I'm afraid you're correct." Pythor loosed Jay's left arm from its restraint and had Skalidor hold it straight out. "When I push in on the cork, it will inject this draught into your body. Its only effect is that it will put you to sleep for a few hours, but in order to insure that you will become used to sleeping during the day, you will be receiving a double dosage of the draught until you show signs of adapting. Sweet dreams."

The next thing Jay knew, he felt the point of the needle pierce his skin, and a numbing sensation traveling up his arm and spreading across his body. Then he blacked out, collapsing into Pythor's arms.

* * *

"What should we do with him, Pythor?" Skales asked, nudging Jay's inert form with his tail.

"We can leave him here for now; he won't hear anything we're saying," the Anacondrai slaver replied, allowing Jay to fall out of his arms into a heap on the floor. "Now, since we only have one piece of merchandise with us, that shortens the usually ten day journey down to seven at the most. Then because he's young, that cuts off another day since he can go for longer distances in longer periods of time."

"We're not selling him at the market?" Skalidor said skeptically.

Pythor face-palmed. "Sometimes I wonder how you became General of the Constrictai," he muttered. "If you had been paying attention to what I had been saying before my little exchange with Jarius, you would have heard me tell you that our young captive has been spoken for by one of our patrons. When we received word from Ziliaris about returning his favor, along with the description of the youth in question, I put the offer of selling him up to our various Ninjagonian and Grecian patrons, in hope that we wouldn't have to take the longer journey to the Omeray or Ninjago City slave markets."

"And which patron spoke for him?" one of Fangtom's heads piped up. "You never got around to telling us that, Pythor," the second head added.

"As it turns out, our generous buyer Lord Nadakhan was the first to accept my offer. Rather providential, really, since his estate is only fifteen miles away from the border between Ninjago and Grecia."

"'Generous' is a gracious overstating description of him, Pythor," Skales said bluntly, his swirling red eyes narrowing in a scowl. "He's a cheapskate, and you know it."

"Yes─well─that's only because he has so many mouths to feed, what with his staff of plantation and house slaves at his two large estates to take care of," Pythor responded quickly, trying to excuse his patron's admittedly miserly behavior. "He buys the majority of his slaves from us, and less for more is often more profitable than more for less, if you understand my meaning."

The four Generals nodded, although it was clear Skalidor _hadn't_ understood what the Anacondrai had meant. "How long will it take for that sleeping draught to wear off?" Acidicus asked, glancing distastefully down at the motionless youth lying on the dirt floor.

"It's about three hours past noon, isn't it?" The Venomari General spat on the ground, and after examining the venom, nodded affirmation. "He should be awake in about four hours, when we'll be breaking up camp and setting off for Lord Nadakhan's estate." Pythor waved his hand toward his companions. "You are dismissed."


End file.
